Brain

(Boston) - In what is believed to be the first published study on the topic, researchers affiliated with the Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) believe female military service-members from Operation Enduring Freedom OEF)/Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) may be as resilient to combat-related stress as men. These findings currently appear on-line in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology.

Government plans to divert more mentally ill people out of the criminal justice system and into mental health services are unlikely to be achieved, according to new research from Queen Mary, University of London.

In a study published in the International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, researchers estimate that there are over 8,000 prisoners with schizophrenia and other psychoses in prisons in England and Wales.

WASHINGTON, DC, June 7, 2011 — A new study led by a Northern Illinois University sociologist shows that while family members often provide critical support, they also can sometimes be the source of stigmatizing attitudes that impede the recovery of mentally ill relatives.

"Negative attitudes of family members have the potential to affect the ways that mentally ill persons view themselves, adversely influencing the likelihood of recovery from the illness," said lead researcher Fred Markowitz, an NIU professor of sociology.

San Diego, CA, June 7, 2011 – Although traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the leading causes of death in the United States, work-related TBI has not been well documented. In a study published in the July issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers describe the epidemiology of fatal TBI in the US workplace between 2003 and 2008. This study provides the first national profile of fatal TBIs occurring in the US workplace. The construction industry had the highest number of TBIs and the agriculture, forestry, and fishing industry had the highest rates.

A brain imaging study suggests that men with a history of violent behavior may have greater gray matter volume in certain brain areas, whereas men with a history of substance use disorders may have reduced gray matter volume in other brain areas, according to a report published online today by the Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Difficulty remembering important dates and medications, and gathering paperwork, is more common in older individuals with mild cognitive impairment than in those with no cognition problems, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

A biological sensor is a critical part of a human cell's control system that is able to trigger a number of cell activities. A type of sensor known as the "gating ring" can open a channel that allows a flow of potassium ions through the cell's wall or membrane — similar to the way a subway turnstile allows people into a station. This flow of ions, in turn, is involved in the regulation of crucial bodily activities like blood pressure, insulin secretion and brain signaling.

It is one of the wonders of language: We cannot possibly anticipate or memorize every potential word, phrase, or sentence. Yet we have no trouble constructing and understanding myriads of novel utterances every day. How do we do it? Linguists say we naturally and unconsciously employ abstract rules—syntax.

URBANA – Teens develop strategic thinking skills in youth activities that they rarely learn in the classroom, says a new University of Illinois study of 11 high-quality urban and rural arts and leadership programs.

"In school you learn how government is supposed to work. In youth leadership programs, youth learn how government actually works. They also learn how to influence it," said Reed Larson, a professor in the U of I's Department of Human and Community Development.

Roanoke, Va. -- Gratuities, gifts, sponsorship, product price, free samples, favors all can influence judgment and decision-making. If a person is influenced in their choice of cereal, the result is a bit of income for a manufacturer. But a lot of people can be impacted if a politician is influenced by support from a special interest; or the health of a handful of patients can be affected if a physician is influenced by gifts from drug reps.

PITTSBURGH, June 6 - New neurons take more than six months to mature in adult monkeys and that time is likely even longer in humans, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, the University of Illinois, and Pennsylvania State University. Their findings, reported this week in the online version of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, challenge the notion that the time it takes for neurogenesis is the reason anti-depressant medications are not fully effective until three to five weeks after treatment begins.

DURHAM, N.C. – Birds do it. Bees do it. Even little kids picking strawberries do it.

Every creature that forages for food decides at some point that the food source they're working on is no richer than the rest of the patch and that it's time to move on and find something better.

This kind of foraging decision is a fundamental problem that goes far back in evolutionary history and is dealt with by creatures that don't even have proper brains, said Michael Platt, a professor of neurobiology and director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at Duke University.

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) –– In what they are calling a new direction in the study of Alzheimer's disease, UC Santa Barbara scientists have made an important finding about what happens to brain cells that are destroyed in Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. The results are published in the online version of The Journal of Biological Chemistry.

Post-menopausal women have better memory after daily treatment with a testosterone spray for six months, a new preliminary study finds. The results will be presented Saturday at The Endocrine Society's 93rd Annual Meeting in Boston.

"Women have a higher risk of developing dementia compared to men," said Sonia Davison, MD, PhD, the study's lead investigator and a postdoctoral research fellow at Monash University, Melbourne. "These results offer a potential therapy, where none currently exists, to slow cognitive decline in women."

San Antonio, Texas (June 6, 2011)—Definitive proof of an adverse effect of chronic marijuana use revealed at SNM's 58th Annual Meeting could lead to potential drug treatments and aid other research involved in cannabinoid receptors, a neurotransmission system receiving a lot of attention.